Farm dinners spotlight growers' connection to what's on our plates

The Denver Post/Cyrus McCrimmon
The sun goes down over the mountains in the background as Isabelle Farms in Lafayette hosted a farm dinner out in the fields between the corn and watermelon patch on July 31. The kitchen crew from Oak at Fourteenth in Boulder came to cook for the farm guests. The event was lead by Outstanding in the Field, a group that promotes understanding of where our food comes from and honors the people whose good work brings nourishment to the table.

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The last time I had dinner on a farm, we ate baked chicken and steamed broccoli topped with American cheese. There were eight of us, and the whole meal probably cost $20.

My, how times have changed.

People are now paying hundreds of dollars to dine in farm fields. Last week, Isabelle Farm in Lafayette hosted 50 people who paid $210 each for an elegant dinner that could easily have been served in a sleek air-conditioned dining room. But instead of exposed brick and chandeliers, cornstalks and sunbeams provided the atmosphere.

The menu, by chef Steven Redzikowski of Oak at Fourteenth, paid homage to the ingredients' growers: